Archive for September 9th, 2009

Pink Slips At Birthright

by Sharon Udasin

In an attempt to redirect the organization’s focus on local Birthright alumni communities, Birthright Israel NEXT — the post-trip programming wing of Birthright Israel — has laid off six of its employees, several of whom held high-ranking managerial positions, The Jewish Week has learned.

The layoffs in the New York-based national office included two individuals from the communications department, one person from programming and three from the community initiatives sector, said Rabbi Daniel Brenner, executive director of NEXT.

Last year, only 24 percent of NEXT’s budget was allocated for local programs in its five pilot cities, but this year, 33 percent of the budget will go to its seven smaller branches, according to Rabbi Brenner.

“The restructuring is being done in an effort to create a more efficient structure for us to meet our goals in the coming year,” he said. “Generally, we’re reducing the size of our national staff. We’re going to put more resources into local offices.”  Continue reading…

Kosher App-etizing

The new “Cookshelf” kosher cookbook application.

by Sharon Udasin

Want to add a little spice to your great-grandmother’s century-old noodle kugel?

There’s an app for that.

Just in time for the holidays, the team at Web design firm Appsolutemedia has launched a $4.99 iPhone/iTouch application called “CookShelf,” the touchscreen wireless “Kosher Cookbook” that provides over 300 step-by-step recipes, a shopping list generator and 52-week meal plans.

Thus far, the recipes are all by local Jewish chef Gloria Kobrin — an experienced food writer and instructor — but CookShelf will soon incorporate other material as well, according to Alex Libkind, the CEO of Appsolutemedia. While traditional Jewish fare like chicken soup and roasted potatoes are certainly available, the application aims to diversify the kosher repertoire, providing recipes for international favorites like hoisin spare ribs (using beef flanken) with apricots, and chicken satay with peanut chutney.

“You won’t find a cholent there at this point,” Libkind said. “We’re moving away from the gefilte fish and kugel markets to the sushi and more advanced palates.”  Continue reading…

‘No Cookie-Cutter Bar Mitzvahs Here’

Elani Hillman plays with a Jewish star toy as he prepared for his bar mitzvah with tutor Aliyah Cheskis-Cotel.

by Sharon Udasin
Staff Writer

Waiting for his teacher to begin his first bar mitzvah lesson, 12-year-old Jacob Mussen made handprints in a special bed of movable metal pins and then watched colored droplets creep down the sides of a liquid motion toy.

Jacob, who has graphomotor dyslexia as well as obsessive- compulsive disorder, is taking private classes with Aliya Cheskis-Cotel, a New York Jewish educator who provides bar and bat mitzvah lessons to students who might otherwise opt out of this rite of passage. After working full time at a Jewish day school, Cheskis-Cotel first tutored a child with Asperger’s syndrome 17 years ago, and from then on began working individually with special needs students, reluctant adults and overachieving tweens. 
Cheskis-Cotel is by no means alone in her efforts, as educators focus more and more on accommodating special needs in Jewish communities all over the country. In New York, tutors like Cheskis-Cotel and institutions like the JCC in Manhattan, Congregation B’nai Jeshurun and Congregation Habonim are among a growing number of resources for special-needs youngsters seeking a Jewish education.

Nonetheless, the beginning of the school year, when other parents face an array of choices, can be a particularly challenging time for parents of special-needs children, who frequently are turned away from Jewish day schools and congregational schools that lack the resources to serve them properly. While awareness of special populations’ needs has grown, particularly with recent films like “Praying With Lior” about the bar mitzvah of a Down’s syndrome boy, supply of appropriate programs is a long way from satisfying the increasing demand, experts say.

“There is a big proliferation of kids with Asperger’s and learning disabilities,” Cheskis-Cotel said. “Twenty years ago people just told those kids that they should just sit in the back of the classroom, and nobody helped them.”  Continue reading…

Bringing More To The Table

The kosher chicken case at the new Whole Foods market on the Upper West Side. courtesy Whole foods

by Sharon Udasin
Staff Writer

Just in time for the Jewish new year, local food vendors are pumping up their kosher offerings.

Two weeks ago, Whole Foods Market opened a new Upper West Side location, where staff members pay added attention to the needs of the largely observant local Jewish community. Meanwhile, the owners of Kosher.com have re-launched their Web site, spruced up with blogs, recipes and cooking shows in addition to the food orders. And in Midtown, several new kosher restaurants have just opened, including Schnitzel Express, Lunchbox and a revamped Mr. Broadway now acceptable to the Health Department.
At the new Whole Foods, located on the corner of Columbus Avenue and 97th Street, Andrew Roberts, the grocery’s regional prepared foods coordinator, is diverging from the Whole Foods norm. Unlike at the other stores, where kosher products are mostly mixed among others, Roberts has sectioned off an area for kosher prepared foods only, next to the store’s regular dairy section.

“We’ve consolidated all the kosher products,” Roberts said. “I’m also taking a look at opening this up a bit more to vendors suggested by people in the neighborhood.”
Thus far, the prepared foods are dominated by two brands — Foremost Fresh Caterers and Zayda’s — and include a variety of Mediterranean salads, as well as ratatouille and traditional Ashkenazi foods like kugel and mushroom barley soup. 

As with other Whole Foods, the new store adheres to specific ethical standards, such as the Animal Compassion Act.  Continue reading…